The American Psychological Association (APA) style research paper format is commonly used for citing sources in scientific writing and creates a standard structure for referencing sources and formatting papers in social sciences. Here is a sample APA research paper which includes in text citations, APA formatted quotes, and a reference page with full source details:
Title Page
The title page should include the title of the paper, author names without degrees, institutional affiliation, course number and name, instructor name, and due date.
Abstract
An abstract is a brief summary of the paper which immediately follows the title page and is written in block format. It should be between 150-250 words and comprise of the purpose, key points, methodology, and implications of the research. Most importantly, an abstract should not include any information that is not in the paper such as results.
Proper Headings
APA style uses headings to break up sections and establish a clear hierarchy of ideas across your paper. The five levels of headings are centered, boldface, and titled with capped words for the top level heading. Subsequent levels are indented and titled with capped words. Headings are not obligatory for short papers, but multiple sections require headings. Organized and focused headings help the reader to navigate.
Running Head
A running head is a short title that appears in the top left header of each page. It should be less than 50 characters including punctuation and spaced with an ampersand before the page number. The running head should not include author names for student papers as this is only done for published articles.
Body Paragraphs
The paper body contains most of the content divided into coherent paragraphs. The first sentence of each new paragraph should be indented five spaces from the margin. Paragraphs must develop ideas in a clear, cohesive manner supported by evidence from credible sources. Sentence structure and vocabulary are formal in tone with balanced coverage of opposing viewpoints. Transition sentences ensure smooth flow between thoughts.
In-Text Citations
APA style uses an author-date system of referencing sources within the text. This involves briefly citing the name of the author, year of publication, and page number in parentheses after a quote or paraphrase. The page number is only included if using a direct quote. For example, (Smith, 2020, p. 42).
For two or more works by the same author published in the same year, distinguish them in the text using lowercase letters (Smith, 2020a, 2020b). Any source must have a full reference entry on the reference page.
Citing Paraphrases and Summaries
Paraphrased information should still be cited using author and year within the sentence. For example, Smith (2020) argued that… Summarized information also requires an in-text citation using author and year. For example, Recent research has found that… (Smith, 2020).
Block Quotes
Any quote over 40 words long should be formatted as a block quote. To do this, leave a blank line above and below the quote. The quote must be indented 5-7 spaces from the left margin and double spaced. Quotation marks are omitted for block quotes. An in-text citation is still provided after the final punctuation mark.
Reference Page
The reference page is another key component which follows the body text of the paper and contains full source citations arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name. References are double spaced and use a hanging indent, meaning the first line is flush left but all subsequent lines are indented 5 spaces. This section allows the reader to locate the original cited sources for more information or verification.
APA style is similar for both student papers and published journal articles, but there are some key differences that may be specific to different subject areas. For example, science papers often include an abstract while humanities papers might start with an introduction. Methodology sections are more common in scientific fields where experiments are conducted. Always check your instructor’s assignment rubric or guidelines for formatting specifics based on the type of paper being written. Overall, APA style provides uniform rules to ensure consistent formatting and referencing of sources, which aids readers in navigating the paper. Mastering APA citation and formatting rules is crucial for success in social science writing tasks. This sample paper showcases the key elements of a basic APA formatted research paper at the undergraduate level.